Why I chose Ayurveda?

Why I chose Ayurveda?

Why I chose to go back to the roots & what does it mean?

I have been an underweight person all my life. I didn’t have a very good relationship with food even as a kid ( I considered meal times as punishment times) but I grew up in Indore, a city that’s big on food. Our conversations always were around food. I had big appetite when I was 16-17,I would eat half portion butter chicken & three naan by myself haha & then work took me to Delhi. I discovered all the good food there. I had first cheesecake in my life there. Being away from home & having terrible boss at work made me very very emotional, I took to eating food. Not like every Meal was indulgent but it was my only happy place. I started noticing after all these years at 24, I started gaining weight. It wasn’t alarming & I knew my metabolism was great so whenever I wanted to lose weight, I knew I could go back.
Here’s what happened next. Year later I got married, I was 25 & I moved to Bombay. Husband was a DJ & we both enjoyed food very much. I discovered this wonderful platform – Pinterest & I started cooking every day at home. April that year (2011) I started my blog that meant I finally had a legit reason to get more involved in food. But here’s the worse thing – I never took care of other important things like sleep. I slept whenever I wanted to sleep. Either it was too much sleeping or no sleep at all! I never ate on time; I skipped a hell lot of meals. I ate bags full of chips & drank too much of tropical iceberg & later old monk – coke before realizing it was too late! Weight was of course one big concern. From being constant 50 kg in my college time to crossing 75 on weighing scale, it became an emotional issue for me. Every time an old acquaintance commented on how much weight I have gained I used to either become very defensive about it or be very low about it.

Constant lower back pains, low on energy, heavy breathing started to freak me out and that’s when I wanted to correct my lifestyle. Back then, I was doing lots of cooking workshops but they were never focused on healthy eating. They were all about interesting recipes. My most loved recipe back then used to be this warm cheesy dip in which I had three types of cheeses, caramelised onions. Mayo, cream, milk etc (OMG the sound of it now makes me feel little upset in the stomach)
I was selling Bacon jam & old monk caramel for living for God sake & now I was at this juncture of life where I wanted to become healthier with focus on weight loss & work on my stamina. If you think current food fads, diet options confuse you, Imagine that was the time kale & quinoa of the world had just hit bombay markets. Everyday something new was catching eyes & I was as confused as others on what really was healthy? I didn’t have much knowledge about our ancient grains; I grew up in a Punjabi household in central India. I had never heard about millets. We ate basmati rice with our Tuar Dal, with Rajma & chhole. Only atta we used at home was whole wheat atta.
I wanted to learn what was right for my body? Why our parents & grand parents didn’t have these problems what we are having?

And that’s when I chose Ayurveda. Ayurveda chose me.
A friend who was going through Ayurveda treatment for her acidity induced headaches told me about what doctor told her about not right & wrong food combinations & that piqued my interest in learning about this. She was the first one to tell me that bananas & milk should not be paired together. And I was like “what? We have been having banana milkshake since forever” “Oh also, you can’t pair dairy with meats”, she added. At this point the butter chicken loving world in me was crashing! I wanted to learn more so I looked up online but there all the information on the subject is quite scattered.

Around the same time, I was travelling a lot. Just after my North East trips, I had new found respect for people who are living in difficult scenarios & yet seed saving, grains storing, drying veggies & meats for harsh seasons were their realities. I certainly felt like one of the privileged one in Bombay who gets to eat watermelon all year long with much lesser sense of seasonality & its effects on our bodies & minds.

“When you learn, teach, when you get, give.” ― Maya Angelou. That’s what I believe in.

I love sharing what I know. I am also very honest about it. It’s very very difficult to follow everything that Ayurveda says in today’s life & age but I have had massive shift in my thinking & perceiving food for what it is. I know my body better. I know how it functions now be how certain foods are good or bad for me. I did lose weight, yes. I have more energy than ever. I also understand my vata gone crazy anxiety better.

Since I’m beginning to share what I have learnt & I’ll selectively share what I follow & what is easier to follow as per Ayurveda in my future posts be very aware that everybody is different. Something’s that suit me probably won’t suit you or Vice versa. Be more mindful about what you eat and what is it making you feel. Let’s do this together.